Why Titanium?

Because we think that this idea, as simple and provocative as it is, has given a new perspective on this issue that people face in Africa. Hopefully the Marathon Walker won't need to walk anymore, and this will be the start of something greater for a whole continent.

To raise awareness about the long distances African women need to walk every day for clean water, we partnered with Water for Africa and asked an unknown woman from Gambia, Siabatou Sanneh, to steal the attention during one of the biggest sporting events in France: the Paris Marathon. Siabatou participated with a 20L jerrycan on her head and a simple message on a board: "In Africa, women walk this distance every day to get clean water. Help us shorten the distance." People were directed to go to themarathonwalker.com to donate meters and shorten the distance between African villages and sustainable water sources. Her simple but powerful act captured the attention of the entire world. One hour after Siabatou started her symbolic race, we collected enough funds to build the first borehole in her village. In just 3 weeks, the campaign has allowed us to start the construction of 4 more boreholes, and change the lives of thousands of African people. And this is just the beginning. We’re currently finishing a documentary that will tell the entire story and continue driving donations for months and years to come.

One hour after Siabatou started her symbolic race, we collected enough funds to build the first borehole in her village. In just 3 weeks, the campaign has allowed us to start the construction of 4 more boreholes, and change the lives of thousands of African people. The campaign got over 25 million impressions and 4 million euros in earned media with a budget of next to nothing. And this is just the beginning. We are finishing a documentary that will continue to raise funds throughout the upcoming year.

To launch the operation we shared a teaser with the media before the marathon. Her story struck such a chord that they waited to capture her image and tell her story at the starting and finish line of the marathon. On the themarathonwalker.com people were able to donate money in the form of meters to shorten the distance and discover her story through documentaries.

Siabatou’s image quickly went viral becoming a #1 trending topic in France. After the marathon, we created a print ad to continue driving donations for weeks to come.

When a water source was finally built in her village, news channels and media outlets reported the happy ending to her story and asked people to continue donating. The campaign exceeded expectations even though it took 2 years to become a reality due to visa battles, problems with the Ebola crisis and many other hurdles.

The Marathon Walker was a low budget campaign that aimed to create awareness in France around the water crisis in Africa. Our goal was to help Water for Africa raise funds to build sustainable water sources in Africa. Our target was to create awareness with runners, the media and the entire world. According to research, people are more prone to donate when they are moved and inspired. Our unique insight was not just shock people but to inspire them with Siabatou’s powerful act. To connect people to Siabatou and to Water for Africa, people were directed to “Help shorten the distance” on our online platform. There they could donate meters to shorten the distance. The shocking image of Siabatou was so moving to our target audience, that they engaged with our message and our platform, making her image the number 1 trending topic on social platforms around the world.